Riviera del Brenta is one of the more recent additions to the growing list of DOC wine titles in Veneto, north-eastern Italy. Created in June 2004, it underwent its first revision just a month later, and then again in October 2007. The title covers an area of eastern Veneto which straddles the border between the Venezia (Venice) and Padova (Padua) provinces. More specifically, it corresponds to the drainage basin of the Brenta river after which the DOC is named.
The Brenta rises in the Alpine foothills of northern Trentino, and flows south across the Veneto plains for more than 100 miles (160km) before flowing into the Adriatic Sea at the southern end of the Venetian Lagoon. Interestingly, the river changed its course during the Middle Ages, and the section which once flowed through Padua town is now occupied by the Bacchiglione, the river which flows through the Vicenza and Colli Berici vineyard areas. In the 16th century a canal was constructed to bypass the lagoon, leaving a secondary channel to connect Venice and Padua. This second channel became a vital transport route through the area, and was known as the Riviera del Brenta.
The official catchment area for the Riviera del Brenta title takes in approximately 20 communes, split evenly between the two provinces. It connects the wetlands which surround the western edge of the Venetian Lagoon (around the communes of Mira and Campagna Lupia) with the plains north of Padua, as far north and west as Campo San Martino Borgoricco and Loreggia. The land here is remarkably low-lying and subject to flooding. Altitudes rise from sea level around Mira to a maximum of less than 75ft (22m). The climate is more moderate closer to the coast, and summer temperatures are higher than they are in the hills to the north and west.
The Riviera del Brenta viticultural zone neatly plugs the gap on the Veneto DOC map between Piave to the east, Bagnoli to the south and both the Colli Berici and Colli Euganei hills to the west. The modern approach to Italian wine administration seems to be a synthesis of the approaches taken by France and Australia. The French have identified which land produces good wine and the best wine style produced in that land. The more liberal, creative approach taken by Australian wine authorities is to ensure every acre of land is covered by a GI (Geographical Indication), and leave style considerations up to the winemakers and the forces of natural economic selection. This hypothesis is supported by the arrival of the province-wide Venezia and Vicenza DOCs in 2000 and 2010, and the increasingly broad range of styles coming out of Veneto.
Unsurprisingly for such a modern DOC, the Riviera del Brenta wine portfolio is based largely on varietal wines and such popular, marketable 'international' varieties as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio. Local grapes Raboso, Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso and Tai (formerly known as Tocai) also qualify for the varietal treatment. Rather than have too wide a range of varieties, however, the approach in Riviera del Brenta has been to produce two or three styles for each variety. Thus there are lightly sparkling frizzante variants for the bianco (made from white grapes Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio), foaming spumante versions of the Chardonnay and Pinot Bianco, a youthful novello form of the rosso (red) and an aged riserva option for Cabernet, Raboso and Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso.
